Cisco Aironet 1815i Configuration

[thehumi12]

Hi All,

I purchased a Cisco Aironet 1815i at the suggestion of the pre-sales team at Cisco. I am using it meerly as a wireless access point in my office where I have between 10 and 25 users using wifi. The issue I have is that is does not have any default configuration. My question is simply this: Is there a built-in web app to configure this product, or do I need a CIsco Support Contract in order to download the software required to configure this product?

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Thanks!

[johnmedcraft · Accepted solution]

Hi

yes the 1815i supports the mobility express solution.  If you power the AP and from your laptop do you see an SSID of CiscoAirProvision. You can connect to this And use the IP address 192.168.1.1 which will open the web GUI. If not can you check the code you are running Via the console. 

John

[thehumi12]

John,

I had the device powered for a few hours and I did not see an SSID for this at all. I read that for security reasons, there is no default SSID for these wireless access points. If I connect to the console port, I should be able to connect via telnet to the 192.168.1.1 IP address?

Thanks for the quick reply!

Andrew

[johnmedcraft]

Hi 

the AP is not preconfigured with any networks that are accessible to you network there is a wizard for this. The AP can support 2 modes lightweight and standalone/mobility express if you have the code for light weight you need a Cisco Wireless LAN controller to be able to support it.  Mobility express has a virtual controller built on to the AP so not other hardware hardware needed to control it. 

Do you have a console cable that you can connect to the console port and use the command show version to view the OS code that has loaded we should be able to tell if you support mobility express via this solution. 

John

[thehumi12]

Thanks John,

Re: I have a Cisco 851 router at the head of the office network. I do not have a Cisco controller to run the new Cisco 1815i Wireless Access Point. It appears I cannot use the lightweight AP. I would need to run this as stand alone. Do I require the Mobility Express software to configure the 1815i? (requires a CIsco Service Contract)

Or can I manually configure it using command line via telnet and the console port? If so, is the 192.168.1.1 the default IP for this?

Thanks,

Andrew

[johnmedcraft]

Hi Andrew -

You will need the Mobility Express Software if you want to configure it as a standalone AP.  A lightweight AP can only be configured with wireless configuration via a controller so you wont be able to configure wireless networks directly on the AP.

If your AP has the Lightweight code convert to use the mobility express code then once it boots up you should be able to see that SSID CiscoAirProvision and run the web interface. 

Thanks

John

[thehumi12]

John,

Sorry for the confusion. Is there no way to directly configure this using the console port with a command line interface, without using any special software? I do not have a Cisco Support Contract, and so I am currently unable to obtain the software.

[johnmedcraft]

Hi Andrew,

Unfortunately not.

If you want to configure the networks on the AP you need the mobility Express Code.

If you have the Lightweight Code you need a controller to provide the Administration.

Thanks

John 

[Jed Mk]

Hi,

can someone share to me AIR-AP1815-K9-ME-8-5-103-0.zip Mobility Express Software please?


Jed

[celler]

I could also use the download.  We are having trouble introducing a second 1815i ap into our network - converted from Mobility Express to CAPWAP for what we thought was simplicity's sake - but although both APs seem to be running the same version of code, the second AP is not able to join the controller.

[thehumi12]

John,

Cisco Tech Support has sent me the files required to convert my AP to use Mobility Express. How do I perform this conversion?

[johnmedcraft · Accepted solution]

Hi Andrew

here is a link to the conversion process for you.  the section to follow is the "converting a CAPWAP AP into a Mobility Express AP"

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/8-2/b_Mobility_Express_Deployment_guide/b_Mobility_Express_Deployment_guide_chapter_01100.html

Thanks

John

[thehumi12]

Thank you! This helps a lot.

I believe this is the last question... If the AP is set up as Lightweight, how do I access the AP CLI. This was my problem to begin with. Is there a default IP I connect to via ssh? Or do I need a special cable to connect to the console port?

[johnmedcraft]

Hi Andrew 

if you want to connect to the CLI with no configuration then you need a console cable. Now you have converted that AP to a mobility express AP you should see the SSID I mentioned once it powers up. 

If you have more questions please post :-)

john

[thehumi12]

Hi John,

Thanks for all the help. This installation is finished with help from Cisco Tech support, who graciously gave me an hour and a half of their time for free. This info may help someone else...

The blue Cisco serial console cable is required to complete this. Once physically connected, you must connect a computer or laptop to the device using a Serial Console client such as PuTTY. Once connected, you can continue with the walk through that John linked to in the above post.

Thanks,

Andrew